Adobe Photoshop can be a highly complex program, with seemingly endless capabilities and multiple ways to preform each function it helps if you have a way to expedite the process. Fortunately the great minds at Adobe realize the complexity of their software and have created a way to do just that. Photoshop actions are a great way to customize your photos while alleviating the monotony, if you are an expert and simplifying the multifarious, should you be a more intermediate user. In this article we will discuss the practicality of actions, how to use them, and where to get them.
Photoshop actions have been around since the conception of Adobe Photoshop’s development, which was tremendous foresight on their part, considering the program becomes more and more compacted with preferences and capabilities with each passing version. For the hobbyists out there or even the experienced photographers photo editing may not be your primary interest. You are an artist in a different form, so you prefer not to spend your days in front of a computer fine tuning your works of art, you’d rather be out in the world capturing life as it happens. If this is you than actions are exactly what you need, because let’s face it in today’s world all photos need enhancing in some way, shape, or form. Actions allow you to fine tune your work with a push of a button and a few strokes of the digital paint brush.
As for the more experienced editor, and perhaps even someone who enjoys spending their time on the editing side of things, you would still prefer to automate your repetitive tasks. Image how much you could accomplish by the end of that day if you could turn a mundane process, generally taking thirty minutes per each photo in your folder and make it as easy as a 10 second loading process that’s just a click away. It all comes down to this; no matter who you are you should be using actions!
There are multiple ways of obtaining actions, I am sure that many of you reading this article could go Google “Photoshop Actions” and find many sources. However, the dilemma that you will inevitably run into is that you could not only be infecting your computer with a virus but you are also obtaining poor quality automations. A more suitable way is to do some research and find a reputable source to purchase them from. Unfortunately this can often come at a lofty price, fortunately we have crafted actions and action packs through thorough construction and testing that we have made available at a more than reasonable price. That is not the intent of this article, so do not feel mislead. The intent here is to inform and part of that process is to inform you that we have made quality actions available at a modest rate because we feel that the market is over saturated with inflated prices and inundated with poor product. I do not intend to go into this any further with details on how to find them or why they are created with impeccable; you can find that out for yourself.
The next topic which is important to discuss is how to use the aforementioned actions. There are three programs that Adobe solicits; Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom. In Lightroom these automated little helpers, if you will are called “presets”. They are essentially the same thing for a program that would be considered the base process for photo editing prior to moving on to Photoshop or Elements. Lightroom is a program aimed at fine tuning a photo simplistically. Many of you may be familiar with Google’s product, Picasa. Lightroom is essentially a more detailed version, as I attempt to not insult Adobe’s product, because it is a fine product. We do not specialize in Lightroom presets because we feel that not only is the process here simplistic enough but that each photo requires a slightly different range of; exposure alteration, tonal control, clarity, and color balance depending on the subject.
What this article is really about is Adobe actions. In order to effectively use Photoshop actions you need only know the basics. For each photo there is a set of layers and for each layer there is something called a layer mask. I will dive deeper into layers in a tutorial that will be coming out in the passing weeks. The importance in knowing how to use layer masks is important because much the same as in Lightroom each photo will be slightly different. While many actions will meet specific needs such as; softer actions for retouching babies for a newborn photo shoot, or more glamorous actions for a wedding set, there will also still be some fluctuation in the personality you prefer to give each session as well as the expressions within each photo. Thankfully this is an easy concept to understand. Once an action is ran many layers will have a black or white box next to the original image within the later, this is the mask. On a black layer mask you will need to take a white brush, just the standard paint brush found on the left tool bar (preferably a soft brush as this type of bush tends to leave a less dramatic effect) and lightly paint over the areas of the photograph that you wish to create the layers effect. Another key element to this process is knowing how to lower and raise the opacity of the brush. This can be done in the top tool bar with the percentage box next to the area labeled “opacity”. Outside of that, if you are capable of changing the brush size and knowing how to zoom in and out on your canvas that is the extent of the actions process!
Lastly, you will need to know how to setup and run your new actions once you obtain them. After the actions are downloaded you will need to open two folders. One is of course your “downloads” folder (or wherever you have your computers preferences set to receive downloads), the other is the Photoshop file location folder. Within Photoshop’s system folder, often titled “Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64bit)” or whichever version you happen to have there is a folder titled “Presets”. Open this folder and then navigate to a folder titled “Actions”, this is where you will want to drag and drop your new actions. You do not have to place them here for the actions to work, it is just where they are stored, feel free to keep them wherever you feel most comfortable. Once this process is finished open Adobe Photoshop and select the “Window” drop down from the upper most menu. There you will find an actions selection (Alt+F9 on PC/Option+F9 on Mac), once this is clicked on the actions menu will appear. Finally, on the top right corner of the actions window is an arrow pointed downward next to several small lines. Hit this drop down and select “Load Actions”. Hopefully it will prompt you to the “Actions” folder where you have just placed your new actions, if not navigate to this folder and double click each action in order to load them. After that it is just a matter of highlighting the new action, clicking play and watching the magic happen!
If you are new to Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and have purchased any of our actions or action packs we offer technical support and are happy to assist you with any questions that you may have. We are well versed in all areas of Photoshop so please feel free to send us an email with any questions that you may have and we will get back to you within one business day (often available on weekends). We want to eliminate any hesitation or concern that you may have with entering the ever productive world of actions!